Ben Gordon, the former Chicago Bulls star accused of battering two security guards at the former Rock and Roll McDonald’s last year, is one step closer to putting the case behind him.
Gordon, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery on Wednesday, according to court records. Judge Donald Panarese Jr. handed Gordon six months of conditional discharge, a form of probation overseen by the court.
Chicago police arrested Gordon after responding to a disturbance at the landmark McDonald’s, 600 North Clark, around 3:30 a.m. on November 4, 2022.
Officials said restaurant security guards were escorting Gordon out of the building when he punched a 29-year-old guard in the face and threw him to the ground. He also pushed a 21-year-old male security officer to the ground, according to CPD. Both victims refused medical services.
All did not go smoothly for the former Bulls shooting guard after his arrest.
Judge Daniel Gallagher issued an arrest warrant for Gordon after he failed to appear in court in December for the first hearing in the battery case.
The incident in River North came two months after Gordon was arrested at LaGuardia Airport in New York City after witnesses allegedly saw him punch his 10-year-old son in the face as they prepared to board a flight to Chicago. The New York Post reported that two Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police officers were injured during his arrest.
Gordon was arrested again in Stamford, Conn., on his birthday, April 4. Officers found Gordon inside a juice shop after receiving calls of a man acting strangely and displaying a knife, NBC New York reported. Cops said they found a knife in Gordon’s front pants pocket and a stun gun and brass knuckles in his backpack.
“Gordon faces weapons and threat-related charges, as well as one count each of disorderly conduct, interfering with [police] and sixth-degree larceny for allegedly refusing to pay for a glass of juice,” the news outlet reported. He was taken to a hospital twice for mental health evaluations while in Stamford police custody.
In 2017, he was arrested for pulling a fire alarm in an LA apartment building. Later that year, he was charged with robbing the manager of a residential complex where he lived. Those charges were dropped after he reached a “civil compromise,” according to TMZ.
